2.3L cylinder bore

[Otto57]

I am trying to rebuild a early 2.3 and after measuring the cylinders I got a measurement of 3.781 which my book says is almost at max. I have not honed it out yet so my question is do I need to have it bored or can I just hone it and go with .010 over rings? There are also some light scratches on the crank journals. Can I just clean it up and use new bearings or does it have to be machined ? I am just trying to build a dependable daily driver. Thanks in advance for any help

 

[Uncle Gump]

Is there any taper or out of round in the cylinders? Any ridge on the top? What did you use to take your measurements? On more then a couple occasions I have run a berry bush through a decent used block and installed new rings on used pistons.

With the crank... you need to mic it. That said... some super fine emery cloth and a leather shoe string can clean up some light scratches.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

@Dirtman should be able to help!

 

[Dirtman]

@Dirtman should be able to help!

Yea... take it to a machine shop to be checked properly.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Yea... take it to a machine shop to be checked properly.

From now on, I will refer every 2.3 question to our in-house expert, Dirtman. ??

 

[Dirtman]

From now on, I will refer every 2.3 question to our in-house expert, Dirtman. ??

Wrong 2.3 though...

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Wrong 2.3 though...

ALL 2.3s. ALL YEARS. ALL MAKES. ALL MODELS.


2.3 Saab? Dirtmans got it.
2.3 Ranger? Dirtmans got it.
2.3 Mercedes? Dirtmans got it.

 

[Dirtman]

Ok I'll start reading!

 

[Otto57]

Is there any taper or out of round in the cylinders? Any ridge on the top? What did you use to take your measurements? On more then a couple occasions I have run a berry bush through a decent used block and installed new rings on used pistons.

With the crank... you need to mic it. That said... some super fine emery cloth and a leather shoe string can clean up some light scratches.

 

[Otto57]

I used a micrometer to measure the cylinders and there is a couple thousandth out of round and a slight ridge at the top.
I think I may take it to a machine shop and just have it bored .030 over and get new pistons and rings and remove all the guess work. Thanks for all the advice, it has been many years since I have done a complete teardown.

 

[Daniel Black]

I've done four 2.3s and they all had to be bored because the #1 cylinder was out of round. The last one still had the cross hatches in 2-3-4 but #1 was out, something about the water being cool on one side and hot on the other from where the thermostat is. Same problem I had with my 300 I6. I tried to get my machinist to just bore the #1 hole but he wouldn't go for it. lol. On the plus side I've never had to get a 2.3 crank turned. They've all polished up and stayed standard.

 

[Otto57]

Ok thanks, I have found a place to bore it out pretty cheap and I feel a little better because I'm really trying to stay on a budget. Thanks for the input